William A. McDade, MD, PhD, a board-certified anesthesiologist, is the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). In this new role for ACGME, he leads its mission to increase physician diversity and ensure inclusive clinical learning environments for our nation’s residencies and fellowships. A medical educator, Dr. McDade previously served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Academic Officer for the Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, which is Louisiana’s largest nonprofit, academic, multispecialty health system. In addition to serving on Ochsner’s executive leadership team, he directly oversaw the system’s undergraduate, graduate and continuing medical education and allied health programs and shaped its research agenda.
Prior to his appointment at Ochsner, Dr. McDade was Professor of Anesthesia and Critical Care at the University of Chicago, where he also served as Deputy Provost for Research and Minority Issues, and as Associate Dean for Multicultural Affairs for the Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. McDade served as a Director for ACGME board, and in 2018, chaired its Planning Committee for Diversity in GME. He has been as a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), a member of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation, and currently serves as the American Medical Association’s Board representative to the NBME’s Coalition for Physician Accountability.
Dr. McDade has long been a champion for the elimination of health disparities and for diversifying the medical workforce. He served on the Commission to End Health Disparities and, while at the University of Chicago, founded the Dr. James E. Bowman Society at the Pritzker School of Medicine to advance the elimination of health disparities, promote excellence in scholarship, and increase diversity in medicine. He currently serves on the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee.
In 2016, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association. Even as a medical student, Dr. McDade had been active in the AMA and served as chair of the AMA Medical Student Section Governing Council. Since then, he has served in multiple roles including as a delegate representing the American Society of Anesthesiologists in the AMA House of Delegates, chair of the AMA Minority Affairs Consortium, chair of the AMA Council on Medical Education, and former Board liaison to the AMA Advisory Committee on LGBTQ Issues, the AMA Council on Medical Service, the AMA Integrated Physician Practice Section, and the AMA Minority Affairs Section. He currently serves as the Board of Trustees liaison to the Organized Medical Staff Section and the AMA Council on Long-Range Planning and Development. He currently is a member of the Board of Commissioners for the Joint Commission and serves on its Executive Committee.
Dr. McDade is a past-president and past board of trustees chair for both the Illinois State Medical Society and the Chicago Medical Society. He also served as the chair of the Anesthesiology Section for the National Medical Association and the president of the Cook County Physicians’ Association and the Prairie State Medical Society. A recipient of the National Medical Fellowships Distinguished Alumni Award, the Chicago Medical Society’s “Physician of the Year” Award, National Medical Association’s James Whittico Award, and the Biological Sciences Division at the University of Chicago’s Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion, Dr. McDade was named a Senior Scholar in the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence, and has been recognized by the University of Chicago Alumni Association for Distinguished Service.
Dr. McDade received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from DePaul University. Named to the Pritzker School of Medicine’s Medical Scientist Training Program, he earned his PhD in Biophysics and Theoretical Biology and his Medical Doctorate from the University of Chicago. He stayed there to complete his internship in Internal Medicine, then completed residency training in Anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School. A member of Alpha Omega Alpha, Dr. McDade made clinical anesthesiology and the treatment of sickle cell disease the focus of his clinical care and research.